demerit

Definition

A quality of being inadequate; a disadvantage, a fault.

Etymology

From Middle English demerit, demerite, from Old French desmerite (modern French démérite) and its etymon Latin dēmeritum. By surface analysis, de- + merit.

Example Sentences

• "[W]hatever they acquire by their Induſtry or Ingenuity […] ſhould be as much their Property, as any diviſions of Land or of Stock that are made to the Sons; and the Poſſeſſion as ſecure, unleſs forfeited by any demerit or offence againſt the cuſtoms of the Family, which grow with time to be the Orders of this little State."
• "They see no merit or demerit in any man or any action."
• "A few of you have followed in the path of the perfect West Point graduate, Robert E. Lee, who never received a single demerit in four years. Some of you followed in the path of the imperfect graduate, Ulysses S. Grant, who had his fair share of demerits, and said the happiest day of his life was "the day I left West Point." (Laughter.)"